Who's S&S Racing Team Willys is on the trailer in this shot? I'm assuming it belongs to K. S. Pittman? Or was it perhaps Fred Bear's? Dave Hales aslo ran that body style Willys, but that doesn't look like Dave's car. And, it darn sure isn't Pork Zartman's Filthy Forty.
That is the K.S. Pittman car on the trailer, and the SWC car in the garage. This shot was taken when both were on tour, back east somewhere if I recall.
If I may clarify the photo in the opening post. Wayne Arteaga was a well known gasser guy in his own right in the midwest throughout the Gasser Wars years and before. His home and shop were a stopping off point as the "names".......S-W-C, Pittman, Mazmanian, et al made their trips west to east for match races, as well as east to west going home. Major repairs as well as minor maintainance were the order of the day. Wayne's B/G Wilys was a national record holder at one point, and he too, was an Olds guy.....still was all the way up to his untimely death this past June. I think the photo with the tall guy with the glasses is Wayne's partner, John Helmuth. Wayne drove and tuned, John was the "technical" guy. He was an engineer with McDonnell Douglas, and an early techno geek. Racing from the Golden Age.......
It's kinda of funny, as a black guy I thought everyone knew this already. Here's a shocker for you. Take a good look at Don the Snake Prudhome.
I just noticed that the last pics of the black car look like the hood was shortened in height at the front of it. Or is it just me? Paul M
NHRA used to put a round sticker w/ a T on the final two cars in class eliminations so the tech guys would know to weigh them & P&G the motor.
BTT. Duh on me for not doing more history digging. I only recently found out about that Mr. Stone and Woods were Black Americans. One of my all time favorite car ever. I even have most of Don Montgomerys books and never made the connection. Slim
About 10 or 12 years ago there was a picture of the Studebaker in Rod and Custom. This car pre-dated SWC and was owned by Woods alone as I recall. I'll look tomorrow for the mag and try to put a picture on here.
Man, now THAT suck's................the guy (Big Tool, errr John) was 'ethnic' too.The Rodders Journal ever do a feature on the Team and car to shed some light on the subject?
>>>>>,Bottom pic is The Stone -Woods Stude with K S Pitman driving ,,Cordova Drag Strip Illinios in '58 ,,thats me in that '34 Chevy in the top pick ,
SWC used to come to Madera with Swindler 2 the B/GS about 60-61 if I remember correctly--came for the Nat'l record runs-saw them alot in the pits--very quite and business-like--later (63?) I remember the A/GS car coming--may have been 64 as it was no longer olds powered--Reath AutomotiveSP?-also was running at this time with a black Willys that was Lincoln powered I think-have never seen pics of it anywhere-SWC was the real deal-my dates may be off a year or so-have some old pics somewhere--may have to get my grandaughter to help me scan them
I thought the B car (the blue one that the blog is about) always had an Olds and the A car was created to compete in that class with a Hemi. Did the B car switch to a Hemi at one point in it's life?
>>>>>,Back in the late '50's and the '60's ,,,one thing i learned ,,at an early age ,,was for the most part ,,drag racers were colored blind ,,a racer was a racer,,and Stone & Woods were ,,"Racers:" ,,no matter who was driving for em ,, Two Great Guys ,,,!!!
Originally Posted by NONAME SWC were true sportsmen and competitors. I never could stand Big John Mazmanian(SP) after seeing him standing in the pits screaming racial slurs at Stone and Woods. it just wasn't acceptable even in the 60's. That kind of crap was more common than one might have imagined back in the 1960s. Ask any of the guys from the Japanese-American community who were involved in racing 40+ years ago it it's all pretty shameful. (Things were even worse for for rodders of that ethnicity and their families during WWII) I think Big Willie Robinson helped bridge a lot of racial divides; at least that was my experience for decades back. There were a lot of really great rodders and racers during that era, many of whom are little known because of their paint jobs. Hopefully, this is the place where their stories can finally be told.
>>>>>,Not sure exactly what month it was ,,but in the middle '60's ,,when i was in the USAF stationed in Anchorage,AK ,,Hot Rod Mag did an exploded view of the SW-C Willys ,,i copied that chassis for my '54 Ford C/Gasser w' a 396 BB ,,i wanted a Willys ,,but in Alaska ,,there just wasn't any ,,lotsa Anglias ,,but no Willys Coupes up there ,,so,,,i did it with a old Ford Pee Cup ,, over the years ,,Stone-Woods was my all time faverete ,,they went thru alota drivers back then ,,,First with K S Pitman ,,if i remember right ,,Big John Mazmaian drove for em for a short time 'till he lost a big race to K S Pitman ,and got fired in faver of light weight ( 100 lbs soking wet ) ,Doug"Cookie" Cooke ,,Doug drove all the way to the Mustang Days in the early '70's , when he had a bad crash ,,almost got killed ,,and retired ,, Big John was hired to fill in for Doug for a couple races in the AA/GS Mustang ,,K S Pitman too ,,plus several other guys ,,BUT ,,the Mustang Days just wasn't the same as the good ole` Willys days ,,then ,,NHRA did away with the "Gasser" classes and I went snow mobile & boat racin',,, Just wasn't the same anymore ,,,
As 'Big John' didn't drive his own cars, I would probably have to debate both of those statements as highly unlikely events. Doug replaced both Pittman (driver) and Edwards (wrench) in 1962 as he could do both. Source: HRM July 1962 Quote: " Originally, the blue bomb was run by team of Stone, Woods and Pittman with engine performance by John Edwards. Recently Doug "Cookie" Cook joined Stone & Woods with his knowledge of high horsepower engines, widely recognized driving ability" BTW... Doug's last name was Cook, 'Cooke' was the secretaries name that was used after Doug left the team... CC
yes doug was a white guy he passed away 8-10 years ago. he died of numonia.sorry for maybe spelling numonia wrong.
Ya made me look. (G) "They continued to run the Swindler II in B/Gas, at which time the cars were renamed Swindler A and Swindler B. At first, Swindler A was painted black; both cars were later resprayed in a darker candy blue. After a narrow victory against Big John Mazmanian at the '64 Winternationals, both cars' blown Olds engines were switched to blown Hemis." Pretty good brief history of both cars (really more than that) here. http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_0503_1941_stone_woods_cook_willys/swindler_a.html Larry T
Always knew Stone and Woods were black since I was a kid. Growing up around cars your color didn't matter, it was how fast your car was. Some very creative times back then. I always thought Cook had an advantage because of his size and weight as a driver.
The Jalopy Journal
